Astronomy Tower
by LazyKiss
Summary: Hermione wants her secrets safe. Tom wants information. Will the encounter on the Astronomy tower achieve what Tom wants or will fate sides with Hermione saving her secrets? A 'kinda, sorta' Tomione fic. On Hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: This story is set in year 1944. I got the idea from a scene in my other story, "Riddle's Chase" where Tom describe briefly of his encounter with Hermione on the Astronomy tower. This story will further explain of that one particular scene but with more background. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer : I do not own Harry Potter. There. I said it. **

* * *

**Astronomy Tower**

"_Mione, can I ask you something?" asked the tallest Weasley as he plopped down clumsily next to Hermione who was sitting in the yard outside the Burrow staring up into the dark star filled sky. Hermione only nodded in response and shifted her gaze to her best friend. _

"_Well… I've been wondering… when this is all over, what do you reckon will happen? To us I mean." _

"_We'll move on, I guess. If we survive, everything will go back to normal and we'll live." She replied with a small smile. _

"_Just that? And nothing more?"_

_Ron questioned further unsatisfied with her answer. Hermione contemplated for a while before asking,_

"_Well, what would you want?"_

_Ron didn't respond. He just sat there and looked up ahead with a very nervous look upon his face. Hermione knew he was thinking so she gave him time. She pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her head on it waiting patiently for the Weasley to answer. Ron then looked down and moved to pull a square out of his pocket, holding it securely in his large rough hand. It was the small dark box Hermione always saw him holding recently to which he always kept with him as if it was the most important thing in his life._

"_I want us… to always be together."_

_Hermione lifted her head and moved to give him a hug. He dropped his forehead onto her shoulder and let out a heavy breath. When she pulled away, he took her hands and placed the box into her open palm. She could feel the anxiousness radiates from his freckled skin._

"_It's not the best, but I hope you like it."_

"_What is this, Ron?"_

"_Just a gift." he replied with his lopsided smile. _

_Hermione slowly opened the lid of the simple box slowly wondering what surprise it contains. In it was a simple heart shaped pendant with tiny ancient runes writing engraved on the heart.__ She took the pendant into her hand and held it up to see more clearly. __ It read, _'I will protect'. The moonlight rebounded off of its shiny surface making it twinkle in the night like a star in the sky. 

"_Ronald… it's… it's beautiful! I love it! Thank you!" Hermione gasped and looked up to see Ron smiling at her, evidently glad that she gave a very good response._

"_Let me help you with that."_

_He offered and helped her put the pendant around her neck. They then shared another hug and a small kiss before deciding to head back into the warmth of the Burrow to spend the night planning with Harry. It was all they ever do now. Hand in hand, they walked leisurely towards the magic bound burrow. _

"_You know what Hermione? I love you."_

_I love you._

_I love you._

_I love you._

Hermione awoke to the sound of her heart beating rapidly. She was crying in her sleep again. It had been 6 months since she last saw him and the dream kept visiting her. It wasn't the worst dream she had of her beloved friend. In fact it was one of her best dream but the memory was so strong in a way that it always reduced her to tears. Not because she didn't want him in her dreams, but because she misses him and wished he had survived.

She rose from her bed, put on her slippers and proceeded to leave the cosy dorm. She needed time to think and to empty her mind. If she continued the day with her mental strength unable to block the young Dark Lord's mind attack she would surely lose and result to unknown but definitely negative outcomes. So far, Tom Riddle still had not tried Legilimency on her but she still need to stay on alert. The distressed girl climbed down the stairs from the girl's dormitory and into the common room. The grand clock arms showed that it was 2 in the morning. Nobody would be awake this time around, she thought, so she decided to roam the castle. She casted the disillusionment charm on herself and silently climbed out of the Gryffindor's portrait.

_So many memories…_

She tried to silence her sobs when she reached the corridor where she and Ron had found Harry listening to the basilisk in the walls. She felt the corridor screamed at her when she touched the cold stone wall. Pain stabbed her chest and a wave of tears hit her once more. She tried to get out from the corridor with her shaky legs only to arrive to the stairs where Harry had comforted her after the Quidditch celebration when Ron and Lavender had started dating. She was so heartbroken then, she sent an angry flock of yellow canaries after him. Harry would've doubled over in laughter if not for the fact Hermione was crying her eyes out.

Not having a clue why, she waved her wand and a flock of the same birds popped out to linger in the area. The birds chirped as if singing for her sorrowful soul. She proceeded with light steps to the most calming place she had ever known during her stay in Hogwarts, the astronomy tower. Even though the tower was used for some advanced Divination class, a subject she hates with passion, it didn't stop her from visiting the place when she needed a breather. She would've used the Room of Requirements but at present, the young son of evil guards the place no doubt using it as his meeting spot with the Knights or just as his second headquarters after the chamber of secrets had been closed. It would be too dangerous to go there. She couldn't risk getting caught by the Slytherin Headboy.

When she reached her destination she dropped to the cold floor and continued to cry to her heart's content.

* * *

"Bloody blabbering old coot."

Tom muttered as he exits the headmaster's room. It was 3 in the morning when a big ugly owl tapped on his window carrying a letter from Headmaster Dippet requesting his presence in his office. Apparently, it was an emergency so the annoyed but dashing Headboy in his dashing night robes dashed grumpily to the office after grabbing his precious yew wand. Just as he was about to enter the corridor, he saw Peeves the Poltergeist sticking buttered pancakes on the ceiling with super glue. Without saying anything he fired a spark to scare him away. As expected, the poltergeist was able to dodge it in time and began throwing the pancakes at him in reflex. He even tried to pour the bucket of glue on Tom's head. Tom just waved the bucket of glue and pancakes away with his wand and slammed a pancake into the poltergeist's face. After realising who he was messing with, Peeves did a summersault and sped off at an amazing speed cackling like a loony.

After dealing with the nuisance, he continued to proceed to the headmaster's office using the shortcut he had forced out of a 5th year student arriving within minutes. He gave the password and entered. He composed himself for a few second before knocking on the hard wooden door of the headmaster's office. A greasy "enter" followed his knock and he let himself in. The office is simple, boring and incredibly neat apart from the messy stack of parchments on the table. His delayed work Tom presumed. An old man with long grey beard sat behind the table on his throne-like chair.

"You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Ah… yes. Yes, my boy."

Without wasting any time the old man began to tell Tom how he woke up after having an odd dream about the school being terrorised by naughty students led by the troublesome poltergeist. Dippet, mistaking the annoyed and angry look on Tom's face of shared hatred to the poltergeist went into further details of how Peeves encouraged students to get out of their bed and roam the castle after hours setting up millions of chamber pots filled with poop for unexpected professors to tripped over or step into. Tom angrily listened to the old bag of nothing for half an hour, all the while thinking of different ways to torture and kill the old man before him. When Dippet had finally stopped, he asked Tom to immediately round the castle in case if there were any students out of bed. If it wasn't for his good boy image, he would've casted the Cruciatus on the headmaster but he instead gave his charming smile and nodded. When he exited the headmaster's office, he dropped his façade and scowled.

"That damned old geezer. One day, he will die and it will be a very slow and painful death."

Tom growled angrily to himself and transfigured his night robes into his prefect's uniform nonverbally. As requested, he proceeded to carry out his duty and began his rounds in order to get some sleep. After all, he needed to work more on the mysterious exchange student. He needed to find out what secret she hides immediately. He had ordered one of his Knights, Cygnus Black, to do the work for him but is proven incompetent and useless so he himself had decided to test the water. What he found was really interesting, the water is not as clear as it seems and may be deeper than he thinks. This is fun, he thought. Not only is she annoying and Gryffindor, she is also his academic challenge. Not once or twice had she beaten him in quizzes but 10 times. Yes, he counted. He counted because he refused to believe anyone can beat him and would beat her twice the time she did. He wasn't a sore loser. God, no. He's just… incredibly competitive.

He suddenly stopped walking when he saw a flock of birds circling in the corridor a few feet in front of him. He thought some student had forgotten to vanish the birds they possibly conjured during class so he proceeded to vanish it on his own but then he realised the birds were moving in a circular manner forming a halo. He began to grow suspicious. Why are the birds acting in such way? If one conjured a bird he could not control its activity unless he used a commanding charm which is a very complex and advanced magic and very difficult to control from a long distance. He suspected a person was in the same corridor waiting for someone to walk through it where the birds would attack.

"Who is there?"

He asked with his hand armed with his wand. When he received no response, he used the vanishing spell non-verbally to get rid of the birds and walked ahead looking around for any sign of human being or spirit. He found no one. He deduced that maybe the caster was one of the professors or a NEWT level student who forgot to cancel the charm. Immediately, he suspected the Granger girl. This seems to be her type of mischief; not really dangerous but very mind blowing. Maybe she was just trying to impress someone or is indeed in the cult Peeves had somehow formed like what Dippet had dreamt. He scoffed at the idea. If she really was in a cult, she would most likely be the leader. No one can boss anyone around annoyingly like she can.

He usually skips the astronomy tower during his rounds because of the high stairs and many steps it took to reach the top but somehow that night, something tells him to go and have a look. He never doubts his instincts so he obliged. Tom Riddle may be the future dark lord but he's still a teenager who's sometimes very lazy. So he used a hover charm to carry himself up the stairs. He wouldn't be caught dead doing such a lousy act but he had had to wake up early, fight the pancake battle with Peeves, listened to Dippet's insecurities and carry out his duty out of scheduled time. He had every reason to be lazy.

Tom was almost at the top when he felt a presence of magic. He immediately landed on the ground and then continued cautiously. He smirked when he felt a familiar magic pattern. He always had a knack for recognizing magical aura and pattern; a feat no ordinary wizard could do. He immediately recognizes it as Granger's. _I got her, _he thought. Multiple plans immediately formed in his head. He could use the old blackmailing trick he always uses on other students but with a little improvisation. Granger was a smart girl. Blackmail wouldn't be enough to get her on her knobby knees. He definitely has to use his favourite Cruciatus curse this time. She had been lucky that he was a patient man but tonight, he would go for the kill. No more stalling. Just a swift curse, a break into her mind and then, all the answers he's been looking for.

_Or…_

He could try and talk to her gaining her trust. She definitely has strong connections with the ministry based on her first day of arrival into Hogwarts accompanied by a ministry official and 4 aurors. If she was indeed valuable, he could use her for a long time. He knew of her intelligence and skills. He needed a strong follower. If Granger is proven to be a Knight of Walpurgis material he would surely need to make his move and invite her to his ranks. Yes, a small talk would be nice. He now reached the top and the only barrier between him and Granger was the wooden door.

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**Read and Review please. I will try my best to update soon. I'll just cram an hour or so into my busy schedule to work more on this story. I need to know if it's good and your nice reviews would encourage me to write more. Thank you so much. **

**-Kissa**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: I tried my best to smooth things out from the first chapter. Hope this tells you more.**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, Harry Potter is not mine. **

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**Chapter 2**

"I'm so sorry Ron… Ha-Harry… I wasn't s-strong enough… please, forgive me…"

Hermione sobbed as she clutched the pendant tightly in her hand, her eyes red and puffy from crying. She wiped her tears with the simple handkerchief she conjured. The moonlit night was quiet apart from the occasional sniffs from Hermione. She sat hugging her body just outside the balcony of the tower. She had spent almost an hour and a half trying to console herself. She had succeeded a while ago but after the memory of Harry and Ron's death she succumbed to another wave of tears. She remembered clearly the night Hogwarts had been invaded by the Death Eaters. It was bloody, chaotic and violent.

_Harry, Ron and Hermione were running through the collapsing walls and scattered dead bodies from the delirious Bellatrix Lestrange, Dolohov and Rookwood. Spells after spells were casted but it wasn't enough to shake them off. They ran into Dumbledore's office and sealed the entrance shut only to have it blasted open with a powerful curse. The people in the portraits hurriedly ran screaming in terror. Hermione wasted no time casting the Protego charm between them but it wasn't powerful enough. Bellatrix broke the shield with only two slashes of her wand. Ron fired a hex but Dolohov reflected it easily before casting a dark curse towards him. Ron started to cough blood and bleed from his eyes and ears. Hermione disarmed Dolohov and hit him with a spell she had never used before, the Sectumsempra. She ran to Ron and tried to stop the bleeding but nothing worked. _

"_Hermione, watch out!"_

_Harry screamed and pushed both her and Ron from the curse Bellatrix aimed. Harry grabbed Ron and dragged him to a table. He fired spells from behind the table ordering Hermione to stop Ron's bleeding. _

"_I'm trying, Harry! It won't stop!"_

"_Just do something!" Harry pleaded and ran forward to combat the Death Eaters._

_Hermione heard Bellatrix barked an order for someone to fetch the Dark Lord. Hermione started to panic. Ron tried to say something to her but the flood of blood in his throat was drowning him. He only managed to cough a few words that made no sense. Hermione cried telling Ron to stop talking. She told him to breathe but Ron kept trying to say something; the blood endlessly flowing out of his body. _

"_Loghve... hu..."_

"_Ron, please… stop talking. You're making it worse." She choked. _

"_Aih loghve… hu." _

_Hermione finally understood him and replied crying,_

"_I love you too, Ron. I love you too."_

_A few seconds later, his breath hitched and his body started to jerk like someone running out of air. His body suddenly went limp. He died. Ron Weasley died. _

"_No...Oh god no. Ron… RON!"_

_Hearing Hermione's distressed cry, Harry halted his attack and turned around to find his best friend dead. Bellatrix took the opportunity to aim a curse to the soon-to-be-dead boy. Snakes erupted from her wand and landed on Harry. They immediately coiled around his body squeezing tightly cutting off his air supply. Realising Harry was in danger Hermione rushed to his aid. _

"_Finite Incantatem!"_

_The snakes recoiled and vanished into thin air. Just as she rounded to face Bellatrix, she was disarmed by another Death Eater who had just arrived at the scene. Harry who was still on the ground was stupefied by the insane Lestrange woman. _

"_Well, well, well… Look what we have here…"_

_A deep haunted voice came from the entrance. Hermione went rigid when she saw the tall and horrifying Dark Lord entered the room. A few other unknown Death Eaters burst into the room creating an arc behind him; all sniggering in anticipation. _

"…_the weasel, the Mudblood and the boy-who-will-die, all in one room. Excellent."_

_A chorus of laughter followed his words, Bellatrix being the loudest screeching happily like a banshee. He then continued,_

"_I see your faithful friend died. Such a pity… I think not."_

_Hermione saw Harry's anger flashed through his eyes. His body trembling, his clenched knuckles white. In a flash he stood up and charged towards Voldemort but was thrown backwards with a wave of the Unbeatable wand the Dark Lord now possess. Hermione immediately rushed to Harry. Harry didn't give up. He wanted to stand and fight but Hermione, out of fear, held him tight. The dark haired boy only growled and forced himself out of her grip. He grabbed his wand from the floor and stood up. _

"_Let's end this."_

_Lord Voldemort laughed. He took a strong stance, readied his wand and aimed it towards Harry; his snake-like eyes shone with anticipation. Harry limped forward and prepared. He was determined. This time, he would finish the dark lord. He took a deep breath and finally bellowed his spell._

"_Expelliarmus!"_

"_Avada Kedavra!"_

Hermione opened her eyes. The memory was too strong it killed her inside. When they both had casted the spell, the magical power collided and a strong blinding force pulled everything into the centre of the connected spell creating a sphere. Magic flashed furiously from all directions. The tables, the portraits, the Death Eaters, Ron's body, Lord Voldemort, Harry… everything. Strangely enough, she was the only one the force did not pull. However, when the sphere had suddenly stopped pulling, the pendant on Hermione's neck started to vibrate and glow bright green. She had a bad feeling about the necklace and instantly tried to take it off but there was a barrier preventing her from being able to touch it. She suddenly heard a voice; a deep but soft chanting,

_I will protect._

_I will protect._

_I will protect._

She heard Ron.

She heard Ron's voice. She had called out his name but was unanswered. The chanting never stopped. She had tried to move her body but something was holding her firmly. The sphere then had continued pulling everything in including Hermione. She felt it; the thug. Then suddenly, the pendant's glow changed to red and began to radiate its own force. Instead of pushing the sphere away, the pendant pulled it. Hermione was terrified. The ground shook like an earthquake and the walls started to fall apart. As fast as lightning, the sphere was absorbed into the heart pendant. Blood drained from her head and she fainted.

When she woke up, she was in St Mungo's. She almost had a heart attack when she saw a living Albus Dumbledore standing by her bed. She trashed and screamed telling him that he was dead. Bewildered, Dumbledore called for a specialist. After a drink of the calming drought, she finally settled down and was able to control herself when she saw him again. They talked. It was then that she found out it was year 1944 and Dumbledore had brought her here after catching her falling from a portal in Knockturn Alley. There were no witnesses apart from him and a ministry official. She wasn't sure what was happening but she trusted Dumbledore so she told him everything that had happened at the battle. Dumbledore was doubtful at first but after he inspected the pendant, he immediately believed her. Hermione didn't know anything about the pendant until his explanations.

Apparently, the pendant contained a piece of a meteor that was enchanted with ancient runes to protect whoever was wearing it. The power of the pendant was magnified with the use of blood magic; a magic that ties the bond of a master to the pendant. Whoever cast the blood magic must surrender half of his soul to a non-magical property, the heart shaped pendant, in exchange of its power though it will only work once. It was a complex branch of magic, similar to a hocrux. Whether it is evil or not depends solely on the purpose of the creator. Hermione couldn't believe that Ron was able to do such a thing but then, she had underestimated him a lot to see his true potential. Plus, he might have had help or had bought the pendant from Borgin and Burk's. She was overwhelmed when she found out about it.

"_But if Ron casted it, why is it working for me?" _

Hermione remembered asking. Dumbledore explained that she was the first who touched the pendant. It was flesh memory. Hermione was thankful to Ron. He gave up so much to keep her safe and alive. She wanted to tell more to Dumbledore of her quest but was prevented from doing so. He had told her that it's best if she keeps the details to herself. The little he knows the better. They both agreed it was a wise decision.

Coming back to her surrounding, she took a deep breath and wiped her tears away. She tried to calm herself again. She took several deep breaths and let the cool wind blow her sadness away. It was half past 3 in the morning. She needed to go back to sleep so she stood up and made way to the door. Just as she was about to take the handle, the door swung open revealing the point of a wand in her face.

* * *

Tom was certain by now Hermione was in that room. His trained ears heard heavy shuffles of footsteps inside. He pushed open the door holding his wand up straight. However, he saw no one. He scanned the room quickly and took a step forward. It was then that he heard the staggering footsteps in front of him. He smirked and stood to his full height overwhelming the invisible person in front of him. He heard her fall and scuttle away.

"I know you're in here, Hermione."

His soft velvety voice echoed in the room. A table in the corner toppled over creating a loud crash. A whimper escaped into the dark. Hermione clearly wasn't expecting him.

"Reveal yourself." He ordered.

He felt a sudden small burst of magic from her way and dispersed it easily. Another spell came hurtling at him and he waved it into nothingness. _Stupefy,_ she cast non-verbally, and then used the mere moments she had to duck behind another table. Tom laughed as he cast a shield charm and easily deflected her attempt. He knew that firing any strong spell to Hermione would make her lose her trust in him so he instead said,

"Calm down. I'm not going to hurt you."

Hermione felt her heart hammer in her chest as she cower under a table several rows away from the one she was at before. She looked down to her body and was glad to find she was still under the disillusionment spell. At least he was at a slight disadvantage but she knew he could easily mutter the counter curse to find her. Why was he stalling? She gripped her wand securely calculating her chance of escaping. She knew any spell she cast would only be deflected by him. He was very strong even in his teenage years. He was twice as powerful as she is, maybe even more. The worst she could ever do to him was perhaps a few scratches here and there.

_Don't underestimate yourself, _she thought taking in a few shaky breath. Disregarding his words, Hermione leapt out from her hiding spot and cast a full body bind curse before running to the wall farther away from her spell casting point to confuse him. As predicted, the spell crashed into his shield forcefully but did nothing more. Tom fought the urge to mock her magic. He needed her to like him after all. He put on his serious façade and called out,

"Hermione, trust me."

He was answered with another spell whizzing right at him. Having had enough, he fired a spark to stop the charging spell and cast _Finite Incantatem_ causing Hermione's disillusionment charm to wear off instantly. He then fired the disarming spell towards her and caught her wand expertly in his pianist-like hand. He held the laughter threatening to crawl from his throat when he finally saw her, maintaining his poker face. She was near the wall with a terrified expression on her tear-stricken face.

"Were you crying?" He asked pocketing the brown haired girl's wand in his pocket.

She replied with a stressed "No," before turning her face away to prevent him from looking at her. She didn't want him to know that she was indeed crying and felt weak after the small fight they just had.

"May I ask why?"

His question surprised her. Truth to be told, she was half expecting him to kill her with the unforgivable curse but her logic explained to her that he couldn't. Tom was not yet Lord Voldemort, capable of killing, yes, but not yet the Dark Lord. He needs to keep a low profile. Furthermore, he wouldn't take her life without something in exchange especially when they're at school with Dumbledore constantly checking things out with his keen old -but younger- eyes.

Tom would be the prime suspect should anything happen to Hermione. Dumbledore as well as the ministry was clearly aware of her situation and she knew Tom knew about it. The worse thing about this situation was that she knew little of the young Lord Voldemort and that made her uncomfortable.

"I'm just stressed out." The fragile lioness croaked.

"About what?"

_About you, my home, my friends, my family, you._

"NEWT exams." She lied.

"Are you sure?"

_Lie Hermione, _the voice in her head told her. She remained calm and collected ignoring the panic feeling in her system. She just nodded, not trusting her voice and pulled her eyes to look at the dark teenager in front of her. She quickly gathered her occlumency shield wrapping and storing her most important secrets in the darkest corner of her mind. She knew he would try to barge in into her mind and take a peek. Sure enough, she felt the slow crept of the force from him tapping lightly on her walls. She wasn't a strong occlumence but she knew she was strong enough to hold off the heir of Slytherin now. She also knew that Tom had just learnt Legilimency that year so both of them was equal in a way. She saw Tom's face darken when he felt the barrier.

Tom furrowed his eyebrows concentrating more trying to find holes in her wall. He pulled and tugged but the wall was strong. He saw a few holes and moved to it but it closed just the minute he reached it. Agitated, his force crawled quickly from one end to the other trying to find a path but to no avail. It was well built. He could attack and force the walls down but he knew that such act would peel of his mask and show a snippet of his true colours to Hermione making him appear as dangerous and untrustworthy. Feigning defeat, he pulled away from her mind. He was furious but he kept it hidden.

"You're an occlumence?" He questioned clearly disturbed with the discovery. Hermione decided to not answer.

"Who taught you?"

Spinning his wand in his right hand, he took a step closer to the untamed girl in front of him. Hermione didn't move. She stood rooted to the spot unsure of what to do. If this was in her future, she would've kneed the person in the groin in front of her and run like there was no tomorrow. Even when his face showed a friendly curiosity, she couldn't help noticing the dangerous glint in his dark eyes and her instinct told her to run. However, she couldn't help but look deeper into the pool of the most complex dark brown orbs she'd ever seen. Eyes are the mirror to the soul and what Hermione saw pulled her in. His eyes were like a labyrinth to the deepest chamber of mystery. A deep voice woke her from her reverie.

"Well?"

Flustered, she replied,

"Book, I learnt from a book."

"Is that so? You're quite good."

"Thanks."

Silence followed her last word. They just stood there; Riddle observing her, Hermione staring at the ground. After a few long seconds, Tom landed his smooth hand on her shoulders as if trying to console her. Despite her unvoiced protest, he gave her a small hug and mentioned her to sit on the ground facing the window to the dark sky. Hermione complied albeit being a bit scared.

"Don't be sad. I'll be here."

And that's the last thing she'd ever want.

* * *

**Still not finished. I was targeting 2 chapters only for this story but of course... 'things' just have to happen you know. I hope you enjoyed reading this. Please review. I value your comments. They feed my soul. **

**Kissa**


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